The Feast day of our patron Saint Cecilia is fast approaching! Actual day: 22nd November. This year, we are hosting it on Saturday 19 November, and we are pleased to include on that day, a Recital on the Pipe Organ by various organists in our diocese.

“The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, since it is its traditional instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lift up men’s minds to God and higher things.” [#62: Musicam Sacram, 1967]

We are also most honoured and privileged to have His Grace Archbishop William Goh to celebrate Mass for us on this special day.

This great celebratory event is for ALL CHOIR MEMBERS & MUSICIANS. We encourage all those who have choir robes to bring them along and to be well-vested for Holy Mass.

The Programme for the day is briefly as follows:

DATE: SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2016

VENUE: CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS (450 Clementi Avenue 1, (129955))

TIME OF REGISTRATION: 8.30am

9 am – 9.45 am: A Talk by Sir Dr Peter Low on “How should a good church choir be formed?” (This is held in the auditorium)

* music resources will be attached for your own perusal, but do take note that Mass booklets with music scores will be printed for all attendees. You may click here to access a copy of the Antiphons and Ordinaries in pdf for your reference.

Please click REGISTER if you wish to attend. Attendance is necessary to help us know how much to print and to cater adequately for refreshments.

After Mass:

Please adjourn to the foyer for light refreshments and fellowship. (Do indicate ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ if you are staying for refreshments when you REGISTER to avoid over-catering and wastage.)

Let us make time to come together for this great celebration of thanksgiving, using the gifts and talents God has bestowed upon us as choristers and musicians.

May we continue to glorify the Lord by our lives in dedicated service within our ministries.

Looking forward to seeing each one of you in this diocesan celebration.

Audrey Seah is Singaporean pursuing a Liturgical Studies Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA. Prior to her studies in the U.S., Audrey served in various Catholic ministries in Singapore as a volunteer, and worked as youth coordinator at the Church of St. Ignatius.

In the U.S., Audrey is active in various aspects of liturgy and liturgical music—her Mass setting entitled Mass of the Resurrection was awarded honorary mention in the 2010 international Sacred Music competition organized by the Foundation for Sacred Arts; she attended the 2011 Hymn Society conference as a Lovelace Scholar; she has worked as a camp leader, cantor coach, and chant director for the National Catholic Youth Choir, she has taught hymnology and theory at St. Paul Cathedral’s choir school in Minnesota, and will be the scholar-in-residence at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Duluth, Minnesota, this summer.

She holds a B.A. in music composition from Fresno State University, an M.A. in Theology (Liturgy) from Saint John’s School of Theology-Seminary, and a Th.M. from the same, where she studied Gregorian Chant under Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, and Pipe Organ from Dr. Kim Kasling. Her current research interests are postmodern sacramental theology and the 17th century Chinese liturgy.

More information on the sessions:

In the Gaze of the Beautiful: the Theological and Liturgical Aesthetics of the Roman Rite

“Our situation today shows that beauty demands for itself at least as much courage and decision as do truth and goodness, and she will not allow herself to be separated and banned from her two sisters without taking them along with herself in an act of mysterious vengeance. We can be sure that whoever sneers at her name as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past — whether he admits it or not — can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love.”
– Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord

Beauty is one of three transcendentals by which Christians throughout the ages have used to contemplate the mystery of God, and in doing so, render the infinite and invisible discernable to our finite natures. Beauty has a special place in the liturgy where the worldview of our Christian identity is expressed through ritual. When beauty is neglected in the liturgy, our rites no longer communicate the fullness of the Christian vision. How do we ensure that beauty is kept alive in our worship?

Join us to discover beauty through sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch in the liturgical traditions of the Roman Rite. Learn how Christians have interpreted beauty in the liturgy throughout the ages so that we, too, may stand in the gaze of the Beautiful and be converted by it.

This workshop is open to the public and highly recommended for clergy and those serving in liturgical ministries.

Reach into the church’s treasury of sacred music and uncover the many layers of beauty in sound. This two-day workshop supplements the history and theory of liturgical beauty proposed in the workshop, “In the Gaze of the Beautiful” with practical ideas for liturgical musicians. Come and discover creative beauty in the craft of liturgical music composition, rehearsal techniques, and diverse genres through choral repertoire, both old and new.